Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Sun Tzu
The American flag was being flow as well, not that the words USS Liberty wouldn’t inform the world exactly what vessel it was. The only reason the torpedo boats stopped was due to a Soviet vessel approaching the area. In any case, why would the Israelis worry about their flags if the intent was to sink the ship and kill any witnesses. They were shooting at the life boats as well.
|
Actually the life boat thing was disputed even by members of the Liberty and it would be absolutely moronic to be flying your own flag in such an attack even if you were going for no survivors, something that is by no means guaranteed. The life rafts themselves were unmanned. Intercepted and declassified radio recordings have Israel clearly stating they thought it was an Arab ship and they even sent helicopters to look for Arab survivors.
Being the Liberty had a radio, something that could be intercepted and recorded, you wouldn't not want their last words to be 'Israeli torpedo boats attacking'.
My interpretation is that Israel is a poor job of identifying the target, they claimed something like 13 passes by aircraft, but the crew claims none. Neither side seemed able to read the others light signals. The Liberty opened fire on the torpedo boats, THEN ordered a cease fire, but continued to fire due to error. The torpedo boats fired and then backed off. Some claimed they strafed the ship as well, others don't. They and the Captain of the Liberty state that the Israeli boats offered help after they realized their mistake.
The Liberty was a converted cargo ship, Israel did not attack with bombs, and did not sink her, something that should not have been overly difficult, especially if you were trying to make sure there were no survivors. The concept of a Soviet ship near by causing them to pull out is pure speculation and doesn't cover any of the other obvious flaws in the theory that it was a deliberate attack, though a Soviet ship did eventually reach them.
Edit: I will add I'm glad you brought this up, because I always wondered what happened but never remembered to look into it. I just found a rather excellent link on the subject.
http://www.sixdaywar.org/uss-liberty.asp
I saw a History channel documentary on it, which painted an ugly picture, which is ironically debunked at this site.